Chapter 22:
Rogue sat stiffly on Remy's clean white sofa, leaned forward so her elbows were rested on her knees. The last hour had passed quickly. She had tried to explain what had happened to Remy straight away but there had been too much to do. She had got bits out like that the school had been raided, that they were the only ones who got out, that her skin was safe to touch and the other basic need to know stuff.
Other than that, everything still needed to be explained, to Rogue as well. She had no idea what had really happened, only Kitty and Jubilee did and they were still unconscious, tucked into the double bed in Remy's spare room together. Remy himself was in the kitchen making tea or coffee or something like that.
Rogue's body still shook slightly but she wasn't sure why. She was no longer afraid and neither did she feel particularly tired. Yet still she shook and she couldn't control it. Bringing her hand up to her head, she let out a shuddered sigh. She hunched her shoulders over and buried her face in her raised hand. The sound of the 24 hour news channel was only a background noise for Rogue, her hearing swamped with the yelling and shouting of the voices in her head. Pained cries echoed throughout her being and orders she didn't understand rang in her ears, struggling to be heard above everything else;
"We need more support over here!...Just keep them back!" Some random voice said that sounded like it was coming from outside.
She didn't know what was going on. She didn't know why she could hear all she could. She didn't know why Head Remy wasn't helping her. In particular she wished she knew that because then she'd know how to feel. Worried for herself, worried for Head Remy or angry at Head Remy for not getting off his psyche arse and helping her.
Suddenly, the pressure of someone's hand came down on her shoulder and Rogue, forgetting where she was, flinched away violently. Her head shot up and her eyes met with those of Remy, soft and understanding. Rogue let out a frustrated breath at herself and let herself relax again.
"Li'l jumpy hmm?" Remy said softly as he set down a steaming mug on the coffee table at Rogue's knee.
He sat down heavily next to her and looked at her closely for a while before speaking. "So...Yo' wan' tell Remy wha' happened?"
"Ah don't even know what happened." Rogue answered quietly. "One second Ah'd passed aht and the next, mah bedroom door was being kicked in bah two men in black army uniforms."
"Are dhey dhe ones who put dhe collars on yo' all?" Remy inquired. Rogue gave a small nod but said nothing. Remy sighed and wrapped his arm around her shoulders then pulled her to his side in a hug. "Everyt'ings gon' be okay now cherie." He assured her, his fingers coming up to run through her hair. "Remy not gon' let anyt'ing else happen to yo'. You're safe wit' Remy chere."
"Ah don't get whah they came anyway." Rogue murmured sadly against his shoulder, her hair shielding it from her bare cheek even though it was no longer a danger at that moment. "The government know abaht us. They know abaht the jet, they know we're just school students. Whah did they feel the need to come arrest all of us?"
"Yo' right. Don' make sense." Remy agreed.
"And whah did it have to happen when the Professor and most of the other teachers are still awah at that conferance in Washington? Was it planned that way? Is there even a conferance at all? Was it all just a trap?" Rogue asked rehtorically, her voice getting louder with each question.
"Hey, hey, calm down kay?" Remy soothed gently.
"Ah'm sahrry." Rogue whispered meekly, her tone tearful. "Ah don't mean to get angry. Ah just wish Ah knew..."
"Remy know. It's okay." He said calmy, his bare fingers softly brushing against her cheek; their first skin on skin contact ever. This action wasn't lost on Rogue and she pulled away slightly to look at Remy face.
Remy's fingers stopped their slow movement and his hands came to rest at Rogue's side and cupping Rogue's cheek. Rogue couldn't speak or move, though she really had no intention of moving anyway, as Remy slowly drew closer to her. This was it; her first real kiss with Remy. However, just when the contact would've been made at any second, sudden bolts of fear and apprehension shot through her body and then knotted themselves in her stomach.
Rogue pulled away sharply, letting out a small gasp as she did. The movement jogged Remy's hand away from her cheek. He stared at her in justified confusion and Rogue, who was oddly no longer afraid in the least, could only stare back in horrified embarassment. Her mouth opened and closed a few times before she finally got some words to come out.
"Ah'm gonna go check on Kitty and Jubilee." She blurted out speedily, practically jumping from the sofa and running to the guest room, leaving Remy staring after her, bewildered.
Once inside the spare bedroom, Rogue slammed the door shut before leaning back against it and opening her mouth in a silent scream of frustration. What the Hell had that been about? One second she was happily ready to kiss Remy and the next she was terrified at the thought. Why had she been so scared? Was it justnerves? Was the whole situation a little too intense?
No...That couldn't be back,as soon as Remy had sat down beside her, the voices in her head had dulled to a faint murmer and she had felt a little calmer. Then, the moment she had pulled away, they returned to the volume they had been previously. Once again, as seemed to be the case now, there was one voice which yelled above all the others.
"What the Hell d'ya think ya doin'? It's easier to maintain the blocks when she's distracted! We were actually pullin' ahead but then you go with ya stupid jealous stunt and fuck it all up again! Ah can't ignore this ya know. It's gonna be harder to cope withaht ya but Ah can't risk something lahke that happenin'..."
Rogue shut her eyes tightly and shook her head as if trying to shake the voices away. She felt herself start to tremble again and her legs turned jelly-like.
On un-steady feet, she staggered over to the bed Kitty and Jubilee lay on. She slumped down next to Jubilee and took a moment to just look at her two friends before she leaned closer to them and checked thier pulses. They were there, just as strong and vibrant as always. Letting out a small relieved breath, Rogue let her fingers trail down Jubilee's cotton covered arm. She stopped hesitantly when she reached the cuff.
Why did she hesitate though? It was safe to touch her skin. She already had when they were escaping the school. But that had been different. She had been scared. She hadn't been thinking about it. She was thinking about it now though. She thought as she gently fingered the fabric of Jubilee's cuff. She had been thinking when she had been with Remy Or had she? Had she been thinking about it with Remy? No...No she hadn't. Not until she had suddenly felt afraid.
Rogue lightly patted Jubilee's covered wrist before bringing her hands to her own lap and shifting her body so she was facing the door. She couldn't help but wonder; if she hadn't freaked and run away, if she and Remy had carried on, how far would they have gone? Would they have kept themselves in check and stopped before they went too far? Or would they have gone all the way? And if they had, would that have really been such a terrible thing?
No, when she really thought about it, she didn't think it would. In fact, the more she thought about it, the better the idea seemed.
It made sense really. What were the odds that she'd ever have this oppotunity again? No chance of being disturbed for at least a few hours and her powers were blocked without risk of un-expectedly coming back. This was the perfect time right?
Of course it was, she didn't even have to really think...But was she really ready to take such a huge step? Sure, why not? Go for it! But then again, maybe she should think about it for a bit. She didn't need to think! She just had to go ahead and do it. A look of determination came to Rogue's face and she stiffly got to her feet. She puposefully headed to the door and upon reaching it, yanked it open quickly...
...And then froze. Remy was standing behind the sofa, in profile to her, with his phone held up to his ear. Remy was on the phone?
Remy being on the phone wasn't part of the plan! The plan was to just pounce on couldn't do that now he was on the phone though! What if it was important? And she couldn't just ask because that would totally ruin the element of surprise and the spontaneity of it. It was no use now. The moment had passed and she'd lost her nerve. She couldn't bring herself to do it. She went to slip back inside the room but her movement caught Remy's attention. He turned to look at her and held his hand up in a still wave, acknowledging the fact he'd seen her.
Rogue awkwardly raised her own hand, biting her lip lightly, knowing that she couldn't go back and gather her courage again. She slowly moved further into the room, catching what Remy was saying on the phone.
"So do yo' t'ink yo' can make it over?" He asked as Rogue shuffled to the sofa and sat down carefully. "Dhat's great! T'ank yo' so much mon ami...Mmmhmm...Okay...Remy see yo' later dhen kay?...Okay, bye." The conversation ended there and Remy hung up the phone.
"Who was that?" Rogue inquired mostly to just test how her voice was sounding. It turned out to be nervous and wobbly.
"Jus' a friend o' Remy's. He's gon' come 'round as soon as possible to get dhe collars of yo' an' dhe ot'ers." Remy explained to her as he came and sat beside her, though a respectable distance away. Rogue noticed his distance and immediately felt downheartened. She hurt his feelings.
"Oh..." Rogue replied un-surely after a short pause. She stared at the carpet and shifted awkwardly. "He's taking them off of all of us?"
"Oui."
"All three of us...Including me?"
"Oui...Dhat a problem chere?" Remy asked. Rogue said nothing but a vivid blush coloured her cheeks and told him everything that needed to be said. Still, he didn't want to take his assumptions for granted. "Yo' got ot'er plans hmm?"
"Well...Ah...It's just that..." Rogue stammered nervously, her gaze never straying from the carpet. "Well, we maht never get anotha chance lahke this again..."
"Dhat's not really dhe bes' reason chere." Remy pointed out.
"Ain't it?" Rogue exclaimed, finally looking up at him. "What if control ain't possible? What if this is the one tahme for the rest of mah lahfe that I can touch? What if this is the only chance we've got to...Touch... withaht havin' to worry abaht somethin' goin' wrong? Maybe this will be the only tahme ya get to be able to touch me anywhere ya want, the only tahme ya can touch me withaht gettin' the lahfe sucked aht of ya..." She trailed off sadly though she kept her gaze on him.
"So...Yo' basically wanna do dhis because yo' t'ink Remy won' be satisfied wit' no real contact." Remy checked, his tone giving no hint as to what he was thinking or feeling. Rogue remained silent. "Non, Remy still don' t'ink dhat's dhe bes' reason."
"But Remy..." Rogue began to try and justify.
"No Marie. Remy's listened to your reasoning now yo' gon' listen to his." He interrupted quickly. "Goin' further jus' for me isn't a good enough reason and it's completely un-neccessary. Remy's aun' Venessa had a sayin'; "What ifs and maybes seldom are." Every single reason yo' jus' gave were t'ings dhat migh' no' even happen. If dhey did happen dhough, we'd fin' a way aroun' dhem 'cause I ain' gon' give up on yo' Marie. I don't care if yo' can never be touched again ever. Jus' as long as you're close enough for me to touch t'rough layers, I'll be happy."
Rogue stared at Remy for several seconds after he had finished his little speech. No other words were spoken through this time and Remy began to silently wonder what was going to happen next. Then, without any warning, Rogue practically leapt onto his lap, her lips instantly connecting with his. Remy was so stunned that for several moments he found himself kissing her back without thought. When he finally found his thoughts again though, he gently pushed and held Rogue a safe distance away.
"Marie..." He started to ask but stopped when Rogue brought her fingers up to press against his lips.
"If everything ya just said was true, then Ah know that this is the raht thing to do." She told him confidently though in a hushed voice, as if speaking normally would shatter the perfection of the situation.
That was enough for Remy. He was now completely sure that Rogue was completely sure. He needed no more reassurance. So, he wordlessly captured her lips in a softer kiss than before and gently helped her alter her position on his lap so she was staddling him. The kiss they shared gradually grew in intensity and Remy eventually felt it was time to take things a little further.
Slowly, he reached his tongue out and lazily grazed it across Rogue's sealed lips. It was all the encouragement Rogue appeared to need as she almost immediately parted her lips for him. Remy slowly slipped his tongue into her mouth, making sure to go pace himself, partly to help ease Rogue into everything and partly to give himself the time to memorise every single curve and dip in her mouth.
While Remy was intent on pacing himself, Rogue was impatient for more. Her head felt pleasantly light and a warm buzz was starting to flow through her body.
She knew that Remy was intentionally going slow for her sake and she appreciate the though. However, her whole being was crying out for more and Remy's hands seemed to be glued respectfully on her hips. She didn't really want to break their kiss, she was enjoying it too much, so instead of voicing her desires she opted instead for taking things further herself. Tentitavely, she ran her fingers up Remy's bare arms and tangled them in his hair when they reached his head. Then, feeling ever bolder, she rose up straighter and tilted Remy's head back so she could deepen the kiss herself and have a little more of the over all control of things.
Remy was surprised at Rogue's sudden bold shift, but he was in no way disappointed. In fact, he was thrilled in more ways than one.
Feeling the intensity in which Rogue's tongue was now battling away with his own, Remy decided it was probably a good time to move them into his bedroom. This in mind, he ran his hands down from Rogue's hips, letting them trail down her thighs until he was satisfied with their placement. Then, in one fluid motion, he stood up, holding Rogue up to him with his hands under her thighs.
Rogue gave a girlish squeal into the kiss, feeling incrediably sexy at that moment. Then, she pulled away suddenly and began to laugh when Remy lightly squeezed her left thigh.
"That tickled!" She laughed as she leaned back into his embrace and locked her legs around his lower torsos.
"Good. It was mean' to." Remy replied playfully as they left the sitting room behind and entered Remy's bedroom.
Remy's left hand momentarily left Rogue's thigh to flick the light switch off in the sitting room and then on in the bedroom. With that done, his hand returned to her thigh. Then, he went to kick the door shut with his foot just as Rogue decided it was a good time to start nibbling on his ear. The cold tingly feeling rushed through him instantly and he wobbled to keep his balance on one foot much to Rogue's amusement. She burst out laughing right next to Remy's ear causing him to wince at the piercing sting which resulted. This only seemed to fuel her laughter and she dropped her head to the crook of his neck, bursting into fresh laughter as she did so.
Remy wasn't sure whether to feel pleased or annoyed with Rogue's laughing. On the one hand, it assured him that she wans't feeling awkward or seriously uncomfortable. On the other hand though, she was laughing at his expense. After regaining his balance fairly quickly, Remy strode over to his bed and simply dropped Rogue onto it. She cried out through her laughter as she hit the mattress and bounced once or twice. However, her laughter abruptly stopped when she felt the bed dip from Remy's weight and his presence hovering over her.
Rogue opened her eyes to find Remy's face mere centimetres from her own. All humour now gone, Rogue levered herself up and began to press hot, wet kissed to his lips, each one lasting only a few seconds before she pulled away, only to return an instant later. After a while, she stopped this and instead resumed the deep heated kiss they has shared only moments before.
As the intensity of the kiss grew, Rogue brought her hands up to her chest and quickly began to un-do the buttons of her blouse. Once she had her shirt fully open, she arched up and shrugged if off before laying back fully, pulling Remy down on top of her.
The sensation of their bare stomachs touching was amazing for Rogue and sparked off hundreds of desires for her.
She wanted more. More skin, more contact, more sensations, more everything. She clasped her hands with Remy's and then moved his hands over to her chest and the black lace bra that she wore. When Remy's hand grazed the material, he pulled back from the kiss to look at Rogue.
"Sure you're positive chere?" He checked, his voice low and husky.
"Yes, nah would yatake off mah damn bra!" Rogue shot back, a hint of playfulness in her tone.
"Ahh, so you're one of dhose filles who ge' moody when dhey turned on hmm?" Remy teased. Rogue raised an eyebrow and he wordlessly grinned down at her before sealing her lips in another kiss and reaching behind her back.
~~~~~~~~~~{LATER ON}~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The sound of someone knocking on a door somewhere stirred Rogue from her peaceful sleep. She gave a small groan as she became more alert and slowly opened her eyes. They moved up to look at the window on the other side of the room. The sun was only just rising. She couldn't have been asleep for very long. Turning her head, Rogue looked over her shoulder and saw the peaceful sleeping face of Remy right behind her.
Images of their activities just as few hours ago caused her to blush and a small smile to spread across her lips. Last night had been so far beyond amazing and her sore muscles would prove as a constant reminder of it for the rest of the day no doubt, that if she could ever touch another human being again this would be one of the first few things she would do.
Rogue had every intention of curling up and going back to some much needed sleep, but another knock reminded her of why she woke up in the first place. Now she was more awake, she could identify the sound as coming from the sitting room. It was most likely to be that friend of Remy's who he had spoken to on the night before. Rogue took another look at the sleeping Remy before deciding there was no need for both of them to have to be awake.
So, she slowly got out from under the bed sheets after she had carefully disentangled herself from Remy's arms. Knowing she didn't have enough time to get fully dressed and spying Remy's pyjamas shirt resting on a nearby chair, she simply slipped her underwear back on before pulling the over-sized shirt on. Rogue left the bedroom silently, turning the light off as she passed the switch. She lightly padded her way across the sitting room and over to the front door.
Without even thinking about who it could possibly be or how she was dressed, Rogue unhooked the chain and opened the door.
"Morning there Rogue." A cheerful voice greeted her once the door was fully open.
"Joe?" Rogue said through a yawn as she looked up to see the familiar face her her friend. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm here to help." He answered as he came inside, tapping the collar around Rogue's neck as he passed her.
Before Rogue could let out so much as an "oh", the door to the guest bedroom flew open and Kitty and Jubilee came bursting out, both yelling questions and demands for knowledge. Each drowned out the other and Rogue couldn't hear either well enough to even begin to try and answer them. Then, Remy, obviously deciding it was time to get up shortly after Rogue had, emerged from his bedroom. All eyes moved to him for a moment.
"You!" Kitty and Jubilee yelled accusingly as if he had just burst out of the room brandishing 52 charged cards instead of looking like the walking dead. Remy didn't even bother to acknowledge the two girls. He just went over to Rogue, kissed her lightly on her cheek before making a bee-line to the kitchen. Kitty and Jubilee looked over to Rogue like she had done something terrible by bringing her to Remy's place. Rogue could only smile weakly and say;
"Ya'll fancy some breakfast?"